Traps · Compound movement

Muscle Snatch

A compound exercise that targets the traps with secondary work in shoulders, back, quads, glutes. Performed with barbell.

Primary muscle

Traps

Secondary muscles

Shoulders, Back, Quads, Glutes

Equipment

Barbell

Difficulty

Advanced

How to perform the Muscle Snatch

Set a wide snatch grip in a hang or from the floor, hips back, chest up, arms long and relaxed with the lats tight.
Drive the legs and extend the hips explosively, then keep pulling the bar up the body with the arms — high elbows, bar close.
Do NOT drop under the bar: press-pull it straight to a locked-out overhead position while staying tall on flat or slightly raised heels.
Lower under control back to the start; keep the load light, because the muscle snatch trains the turnover and top pull, not a maximal catch.

Suggested working range: 2–4 reps. Default progression: percentage.

•Dropping under the bar into a squat instead of keeping the hips tall — a muscle snatch is defined by receiving it standing.
•Letting the bar swing out on a wide arc rather than pulling the elbows high and keeping the bar close.
•Loading it too heavy, which forces a re-bend under the bar and defeats the point of the drill.
•Yanking with the arms before the legs and hips have finished extending.